GOP Submits Letter to White House in Campaign to Block Rice Nomination

Capitol Hill Republicans are ramping up their campaign to block the possible nomination of UN Ambassador Susan Rice to head the State Department with a Nov. 19 letter to the White House to voice their disapproval.

In the letter, the 97 House Republicans say Rice’s credibility was undermined by her initial characterization of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

“Though Ambassador Rice has been our representative to the U.N., we believe her misleading statements over the days and weeks following the attack on our embassy in Libya that led to the deaths of Ambassador [Christopher] Stevens and three other Americans caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world,” according to the letter, spearheaded by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and sent to Obama on Nov. 19.

Rice “propagated a falsehood” that the deadly attack was a “spontaneous” reaction to an anti-Islam video, the Republican lawmakers further assert, though the administration later called labeled the incident as a terrorist attack.

“Ambassador Rice is widely viewed as having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public in the Benghazi matter,” the letter says.